Chocolate Milk — at Colby, it tastes like a Drink of the Gods

By Madeleine Hand

If you haven’t tried the chocolate milk in any of the dining halls yet, you clearly have not been making the most of your fall at Colby. It’s a non-negotiable. For all the beverages options in Dana and Bobs (and even Foss!), chocolate milk is by far the best.

This milk isn’t just a good way to replace electrolytes and provide important things like daily vitamins and protein (who would have thought?), it also tastes like a milkshake. It’s not like the regular milk, The chocolate milk is something special — not only is the richness unbeatable, and the perfect addition to any meal, it also has a chocolate flavor that is really nothing less than exquisite.

It’s the right mix of milk chocolate without the extreme sweetness (or lack of) that tends to be found in low-quality chocolate beverages (think a drink made with too much Hershey’s chocolate syrup or not enough hot chocolate powder). In fact, the chocolate milk is such a treat that if you are lactose intolerant, I suggest you find a Lactaid that you don’t mind taking religiously. Only a bona fide allergy is an acceptable excuse to not try the chocolate milk (and even then, you should know that your case is unfortunate — you really are missing out).

The reason for the drastic improvement in chocolate milk quality at Colby? This past summer, Colby Dining Hall services switched over to Baker Brook Farm, a creamery in Gray, Maine, about an hour south of Colby.

Not only do the cows at Baker Brook Farm win awards (most notably Rascal, a famous cow in the world of Holstein cow competitions), but the farm also has a five-star rating on Facebook, the ultimate creamery rating website. The creamery is in keeping with good farming practices, as the cows are hormone free (because no chocolate milk is good enough to justify filling cows with antibiotics). The cows feed on Maine grass (internationally renowned for its chocolate milk enhancing properties) and are then milked in the most ethical way.

The rest of the process is kind of confusing and my explanation of it would be superfluous, as there is a nice infographic on the Baker Brook Farm website. What’s important at the end of the day is that this process creates a superb chocolate milk for you to drink for free at any of your dining hall rendezvous.

At this point in time, if you have not had an urge to walk on over to a dining hall and try the chocolate milk, you’re doing something wrong. You should have put this article down about six sentences ago to race over to a dining hall and experience the beverage of a lifetime.

If you are still in need of some convincing though, just talk to Thea Reddin ’22, notable chocolate milk enthusiast: “I get the chocolate milk during dinner before I get my chocolate ice cream. It’s an easy way to avoid the judgmental glares I would get by hold- ing two ice cream cones, but still lets me get my fill.” If you are one of the many who constantly wants more than one serving of ice cream, but just cannot justify the second bowl, then chocolate milk is the loophole for you.

Another chocolate milk fanatic (who requested their name be withheld for fear Colby might start charging them for the absurd amount of chocolate milk they consume), explained: “I drink chocolate milk at every meal. Like when I say every meal, I mean like every meal. Sometimes I even have two glasses, and on really long days, I’ll make a pit stop to get myself a thing of chocolate milk to go. I mean I guess you could call it an addiction, but I wouldn’t, because I don’t think it’s possible to drink too much of such a fabulous beverage.”

The only convincing reason for you not to consume the chocolate milk is because you do not want the burden of the inevitable chocolate milk obsession on your shoulders. Coming from someone who is working on lessening their chocolate milk consumption, I could see how I might be better off had I not been exposed to the drink one fateful orientation evening.

The moral of the story is that you need to try the chocolate milk in the dining hall. If you already have, you understand exactly the pull of such an exquisite elixir. If you haven’t yet, what on earth are you waiting for?